The penis and pubic hair on reproductions of Michelangelo's David have been covered with fig leafs. Photographs of the sculpture have been banned in some schools.See the sculpture?

Michelangelo's David
1501

In 1501, 25-year-old Michelangelo Buonarroti begins working on his colossal
masterpiece, the 17-foot-tall marble David. From a huge block of marble that
has been abandoned decades earlier by another sculptor, Michelangelo takes on
the challenge of living up to Donatello and other precursors who had sculpted
the same heroic figure. The David, portrayed in the Bible as a young
shepherd who slew the giant Goliath and went on to become a valiant and just
Hebrew king, is a fit symbol of courage and civic duty to guard the city of
Florence.

Michelangelo is a painter, sculptor, and architect. In this era, all three
forms of art are thought to be based on disegno, an artistic discipline
built on knowledge of the male human form. Sculpture is considered the finest
art form because it mimics divine creation: The sculptural image is found
within the block of stone much as the human soul is found within the physical
body.

The David is considered a masterpiece, an ideal male form combining
heroic strength and human uncertainty. It is erected in 1504 in the public
plaza of Florence, the Piazza della Signoria. In 1873, the original is moved to
the Accademia delle Belle Arti, where it is better protected for posterity, and
a copy of the work is erected in the plaza in 1882.

Over the centuries, the genitals and pubic hair on Michelangelo's David
cause consternation, especially when the work is reproduced and displayed in
other locations. For example, in 1939, a copy of Michelangelo's masterpiece is
installed at the Forest Lawn Cemetery in Glendale, CA, with one
addition: A fig leaf is added to cover the genitals and pubic hair of the
statue. The leaf is removed in 1969, and the statue remains in its
original state until toppled by an earthquake in 1987.

In November 1969, a poster image of the statue is confiscated by a vice squad
in Sydney, Australia, and the manager of the store is charged with obscenity.
Daniel Thomas, curator of the New South Wales Art Museum, calls the action
"incredible, utterly ridiculous." The charges are ultimately dropped.

Debates about the appropriateness of displaying reproductions or photographs of
the David in such places as schools, dormitory rooms, and churches continue. On
the Internet, one company offering marble reproductions of the statue allows
purchase of a fig leaf at no extra charge. Today, the image, uncensored or
censored, has become iconic in popular reproductions on T-shirts, refrigerator
magnets, and in advertising.